Artist: King Danskie
Title: Swankie Music
Review
by Alex Henderson
All too
often, artists will invent a term to describe their music in the hope that
people will think their music is more interesting or adventurous than it
actually is. Sometimes, that trick
works; other times, it doesn’t. King Danskie, however, is
an example of an artist who invented a term to describe his music and really
does take some chances. The term that
the Antigua-born Danskie came up with is “swankie music,” which is also the
name of this album. So what is
swankie? Essentially, it is soca, an
outgrowth of calypso that originated in Trinidad and is also quite popular in
other English-speaking parts of the Caribbean.
Danskie, when you get down to it, is a soca-oriented artist, but his
approach to soca is not generic or cookie-cutter. And Danskie’s exuberant, energetic work
incorporates elements of everything from African pop to Jamaican reggae
(including dancehall) to American R&B.
Danskie,
who is now 42, favors a gruff vocal style that hints at the gruffness of
dancehall reggae; Danskie is primarily a singer rather than a toaster (toasting
is the style of chanting one hears in dancehall and its predecessor dubwise) or
a rapper, but he injects some dancehall-ish toasting on “Carnival Time,” “More
Money,” “Iwer Hand,” “We All Is One” and “Addicted.” The dancehall influence is also quite strong
on “Nah fe Bruk,” a duet with toaster Fucha Kid. Like Danskie, Fucha Kid is from Antigua. But while the dominant ingredient in Danskie’s
swankie music is soca, Fucha Kid is primarily a dancehall artist. And “Nah fe Bruk” demonstrates that someone
from the soca world and someone from the dancehall world can have fun
collaborating musically.
Meanwhile,
a heavy R&B influence finds it way to “On My Way,” “Zouk,” “Sugar Cane” and
“I Want to Know”; those tunes are still very Caribbean-sounding, but they are
Caribbean-sounding in an R&B-influenced way. And that R&B element makes perfect sense
in light of the fact that American soul has influenced everything from reggae
and ska in Jamaica to compas in Haiti to soca in Trinidad and Tobago. Singer Militant is the dominant vocalist on
“Sugar Cane,” but it is evident that King Danskie is the one in the driver’s
seat and that everything on this 19-song album reflects his creative vision
regardless of who he might feature as a guest on a particular track.
This
September 2011 release has plenty of straight-up party music; “Carnival Time,”
“Danskie,” “50 Years,” “Iwer Hand” and “Don’t Stop the Jammin’” all have a
“let’s party” vibe. This is not an
album to listen to if one is in the mood for easy listening or wants to chill
out. Danskie can be relentlessly
exuberant much of the time, and even when he calms down a bit, he still has
plenty of energy and passion. No one
will mistake Swankie Music for a new
age album or an album of adult contemporary ballads.
Danskie
performs a duet with Guyana vocalist Fojo on “Dadli Posse,” demonstrating that
a vocalist from Antigua and a vocalist from Guyana can find common ground
musically. Guyana, the only South
American country where English is the dominant language, has a strongly
Caribbean-influenced culture. And when
Danskie and Fojo team up on “Dadli Posse,” one can hear the cultural connection
between Guyana and a Caribbean island like Antigua.
The
infectious “We All Is One” is largely a shout out to the musicians of Antigua,
but it doesn’t acknowledge Antigua exclusively; Danskie’s lyrics also
references Barbuda, and by doing so, Danskie tells us a lot about his musical
outlook. Danskie is reminding us that he
has a very pan-Caribbean perspective.
King
Danskie is soca-oriented, but he isn’t a soca purist. And his willingness to take chances yields
enjoyable results on Swankie Music.
Review
by Alex Henderson
Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)